PC Haute Couture: Cottin Bespoke Laptops

If you think your old computer or handheld device is not so worthy of your royal lifestyle, then you might want to have a look at the newly-opened Cottin shop at The Boulevard in Emirates Towers. The Parisian company is one of the very few to bring an air of exclusivity and unmatched design into personal computers and gadgets.

While Cottin computers are fairly standard when it comes to specification – Intel Core i7 processor 6GB memory and a solid state drive running Windows 8 Pro – they truly shine when it comes to design and craftsmanship; every Cottin piece is crafted with precious metals and adorned with diamonds and gemstones. Additionally, buyers can opt for the bespoke option, and have the computer personalised to match their other luxury items, be it a supercar, yacht or jet plane. Components like the casing, hand rest and the side panel can be customised, choosing from wide range of precious metals, exotic leathers and semi-precious gemstones. To make every piece all the more personal, special engravings can be done by Cottin artisans to give buyers of their devices the opportunity to create a truly unique piece.

Apart from the design elements, Cottin offers a two year global Concierge service that is accessible by pressing the dedicated key on the device. This exclusive service provides assistance that fulfils a range of requests, as well as diagnosis and support for technical issues.

In celebration of the opening of their first store in Dubai, Cottin have created a very exclusive laptop, the Shamsah Troisors. This masterpiece, plated in 24K pale gold, has been exclusively designed in collaboration with gold lace-maker Sara Bran, and is undoubtedly one of her most technical and outstanding piece to date.

Sara has spent 30 hours for the drawing itself and then she has been working on the delicate 0.5mm exterior lace for more than 200 hours, while special care has been taken for the selection of the 16 pear shape diamonds that adorn the lace, making Shamsah Troisors a truly timeless showpiece.

Talking Design

To know more about the aesthetics of Shamsah Troisors, we caught up with Sara Bran on the opening day of Cottin shop in Dubai…

Haute Dubai: Can you tell us about your collaboration with Cottin and what it means to you?

Sara Bran: I happened to meet the French brand, Cottin, a year and half ago, and we realized that we both a have niche market and offer a very high quality products so that’s how the collaboration came about. The first idea was to add some gold lace to the decorative bars on the computer. Later, and with the opening of the shop in Dubai, we decided to go a step further to make this piece extra special by adding gold lace on the casing as well, which I designed and did the lace work for.

HD: What was the process of working on this lace like?

SB: I started with a very thin 15x15 cm gold plate and it took about 300 hours for the lace cutting as the plate is thin and very delicate. Actually, most jewellers would say it’s impossible to make a lace this thin with such fine detail.

HD: What are the main design influences of this gold lace?

SB: I’ve been studying lace design and motif for several years. I have also worked in a museum before where I have come to find out that lace design is very mixed up. For example, if you research Portuguese lace you will find Arabic influences. In turn, some people see Oriental and African influences in my work. However, in this particular piece the design is typically French but the geometrics in the piece are common between many cultures.

HD: What other materials and aspects are you interested in exploring these days?

SB: I mainly work with precious metals like gold, silver and platinum. I also design jewellery and do design conception for different objects. Last year I worked with Guerlain and did the silver lace for the 21 bottles of their exclusive perfume collection, La Petite Robe Noire.